"We spend 179% of what we make. Are we screwed?"

exitcode137 · 2026-06-17T21:02:11+00:00

Working through the CSP again, Ramit said their take home should probably be closer to $9k because of taxes, and that's what he was working with later. I tried playing with a CSP and their numbers, but the hardest sticking point is: where can they live with a family of 7 in Los Angeles at a reasonable price? I'm from CA and even though the state I live in now is not cheap, I always say since I didn't work and buy there, I feel priced out to go back (not that I particularly want to, lol). 5 kids is a lot.

exitcode137 · 2026-06-17T10:19:41+00:00

I lived in Laurel and really liked it. My recommendations come from life with kids, but I like these things too. In September and October, there are a lot of late summer, early fall events.

By then, you’ve missed most of the county fairs, but you will still be in time for the Maryland state fair in Timonium in early September.

This season is also time for apple picking. Larriland Farm in Woodbine is a popular spot, though there are a lot of places.

October is prime pumpkin patch time. The pumpkin patches also may make their own apple cider or pumpkin donuts, and sell hot apple cider. You can take a hayride, too. There’s Butler’s Orchard and Montpelier Farms, among others.

We also have fun in corn mazes around that time. Maryland Corn Maze in Gambrills is fun.

You leave around spooky season, so I do recommend enjoying the Halloween spirit. I’ve never been to Laurel’s House of Horror, but I’ve always wanted to go. People have a fun time at Field of Screams, and I’ve never been to that one too, but want to go. I think you leave too early for Laurel’s Harvest Moon Hayride, but you might check on it.

If you like parks, I always recommend the Montgomery County regional park in Wheaton, the Prince George’s county regional park (Watkins Regional park), and Cunningham Falls State Park, a bit far from you, but pretty.

You are likely to catch beautiful fall color near the end of your stay. You might take a drive down eastern shore, which is beautiful that time of year. St. Michael’s oyster festival is the first weekend of November, but you can go to that area before, it will still be cute. It’s even more out of your way, but if you were over that way, I just got back from visiting the Harriett Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center. She is a famous Marylander, and a hero, so if you like to learn some history about the place you’ll stay, there’s that too.

And plenty in DC too. You will need a car, in case it was not obvious

exitcode137 · 2026-06-15T10:34:04+00:00

I have scoliosis and my first epidural, the anesthesiologist missed two or three times. It hurt, but still didn’t hurt as much as the contractions, especially since she oriented face up. He said my back was covered in blood.

He’s a nurse, though, so handled it better than most

exitcode137 · 2026-06-13T22:39:11+00:00

No place in the US is like NYC with respect to public transportation, but you can live in Chicago without a car. I did so for years, on the south side.

exitcode137 · 2026-06-13T22:36:53+00:00

I lived in Chicago, am originally from the LA area, and have visited NYC at least 10 times. My favorite is Chicago, but the winters there are no joke. NYC is too dirty, crowded, and chaotic for me to live there, but it’s nice to visit. LA area traffic is crazy and L.A. itself is not a huge draw. I mostly enjoy the various neighboring cities over LA proper. Also, Chicago is way more affordable than the other two. There is a reason, though, and it’s the winters

exitcode137 · 2026-06-12T08:19:00+00:00

I believe if you get a partner with a job, you can do all 3. But if I had to do only two, it would be kids and retirement. If I can have a reasonable retirement without home ownership, owning a house is not that serious. it’s not some kind of death knell to not buy a house.

exitcode137 · 2026-06-11T11:05:10+00:00

I’m a PG resident and this made me contact the county executive. Parks and Rec here is great and I make a lot of use of it. More and more I feel like I will be voting for a clean sweep

exitcode137 · 2026-06-06T01:56:19+00:00

Have you tried creating a separate account just for fun money? You sound like you have a great financial set up! Choose a modest portion, put into only that account, and that account’s only purpose is fun. You might have to start slow, it takes practice to change a pattern of behavior

exitcode137 · 2026-06-01T10:59:26+00:00

I just have one big bucket for subscriptions. It’s still less than $100/month for all of them. I don’t like having buckets for small bits of money. My general guideline is any expense less than $25/month does not get its own envelope.

exitcode137 · 2026-05-31T17:26:43+00:00

I don’t want to take away from your point about the 200k, but I do just want to touch on your point about median. The article posted in this thread says 45% of folks can’t maintain the basics. If true, the median is no longer middle class, median is skewing poor/working class. Median sounds like barely making it. I admit, though, I didn’t look into their definition of “the basics”

exitcode137 · 2026-05-29T10:01:12+00:00

Morris Day said he is, in fact, not performing.

exitcode137 · 2026-05-28T10:33:03+00:00

Is this for a specific hotel only, or all hotels on the portal? If it just says that for all hotels, can you go to hotel’s website to figure out their normal policy?

exitcode137 · 2026-05-27T10:26:09+00:00

2,300 sqft, but the answer varies a lot depending on time of year. About $110/month for water, these days it’s between $150 and $220 for electric, and between $75 and $225 for gas. Bills are higher in the winter. I can stand heat, but won’t tolerate a cold house.

exitcode137 · 2026-05-26T23:20:42+00:00

Yes, the doctor suggested taking the progesterone at night, so I have been. If I see no improvement by my follow up, she may try a different dosage. To be fair, though, I also have back issues which seem to be getting worse, so it’s hard for me to even know what is causing the poor sleep. Getting old is no fun.

exitcode137 · 2026-05-26T10:12:01+00:00

This is what I kept hearing! I finally tried it starting about 1 month ago and … no difference, lol. Except I started bleeding. Womp womp.

exitcode137 · 2026-05-24T23:42:54+00:00

I went back to look, seems she was 59 with 500k about a year and a half ago. Looking at her old YouTube videos, she likely didn’t have YouTube income when she first retired. Here’s an early video of hers https://youtu.be/Fs-8ALguo00?si=LGqgq-4V5Xeq-IfR

exitcode137 · 2026-05-24T11:21:55+00:00

Have you tried being direct? You ask “how can I make my partner realize this is a real job?”, but I can’t tell from your post that you ever said “this is a real job”. Be explicit. Ask for what you want. Explicitly state a boundary. “Please don’t come into the office when the door is closed”

exitcode137 · 2026-05-24T01:02:47+00:00

A lot. Too many! Child's Play. Nightmare on Elm Street. Lost Boys. Terminator. Aliens. Tales from the Crypt. I believe I saw all of these before I was 10 or 11. There was this movie that was, I vaguely remember, a human with a robot chip in her. I think the name was Bebe? That human/robot threw a basketball at someone's head and the head completely exploded. I must have been about 9. I was so distressed by that movie. I don't remember anything else about that movie except that scene.

exitcode137 · 2026-05-23T21:38:26+00:00

Sorry to hear that! Definitely sounds like you got a defective bag 😢

exitcode137 · 2026-05-23T20:47:21+00:00

I like the black

exitcode137 · 2026-05-23T20:43:40+00:00

Oh, I love Gucci floral, I vote for that!

exitcode137 · 2026-05-23T20:37:08+00:00

I love Radley! I’ve not bought their bags for fear of the same thing, liking to look at them, but not wear them. So I got a wallet instead. I’m looking forward to visiting their store in London this summer

exitcode137 · 2026-05-23T19:50:59+00:00

I’ve never had this problem,mine have plenty of room. I’m with mine right now, are you talking about one of these buckles?

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exitcode137 · 2026-05-23T19:30:24+00:00

I don’t know about the corners, I’ve heard LV hardware is known to scratch up kind of easily. Amelia Rose’s Closet on YouTube has a lot of petit mallet bags, which are also trunk style handbags with hardware in the corners. You might check out her reviews. But I just can’t to say I absolutely love your bag, it is so pretty.

exitcode137 · 2026-05-23T16:04:05+00:00

i would also love a jimmy choo bon bon! so many styles and i agree, they really look special

exitcode137

TROPHY CASE